The Importance of Language

PART 1

After communicating with my partner without speaking for fifteen minutes, I found the experiment to be very difficult. It was frustrating to not be able to communicate using my words and only hand gestures and body movements. I am a person who speaks softly and is often shy, therefore using my hands and body gestures to communicate was very new and foreign to me. My partner had a very difficult time trying to understand me as well. The impressions my partner gave me throughout the conversation were of frustration and lack of understanding. He had to alter the way he communicated to me by asking many more questions, using his hand gestures to try and understand mine, and changing his facial features constantly. It seemed as though he was trying to get something out of me to understand me better. If we were two cultures that were trying to communicate, I think the culture with the ability to speak would have the better advantage in being able to express complex ideas because of the easiness of establishing basic ideas. It would be much easier to use our words to convey more in depth ideas. The culture that speaks might view the culture with symbolic language as less intelligent. This may be because the culture who speaks can use many words to describe details, places, ideas, states of being, formulas, and so forth as opposed to the culture with symbolic language which can reach a limit of communication. Individuals who have a difficult time communicating spoken language can include the deaf and very young children, especially babies. Interacting with these individuals can be very difficult because they cannot understand what you say to them. Deaf humans have to rely on sign language and reading lip movements which can be very difficult to pick up. To communicate, one must also be able to learn sign language and be able to read their facial and hand gestures too, which can be very hard. Children and babies have not learned to speak fully yet so it makes it very hard for them and the adult to communicate with each other as well. 

PART 2

This experiment came to a very huge surprise to me. As an introvert, I usually thought of myself as someone who does not use hand gestures or body gestures to communicate with others. I usually thought of myself to be very easygoing in that sense. After communicating with my partner using only words and nothing else, I found it to be surprisingly uncomfortable. At first, I realized that my voice had many tones when I spoke. I also realized that my facial features are a very big part of me when I talk. I was not able to add any emphasis to my voice, therefore I sounded very monotone and boring. I had to also be very aware of my body. I realized I did many things unnoticeably and involuntarily. Lasting for an entire fifteen minutes was no easy task. It felt like time went by so much slower than usual. My partner was growing very bored of my monotonous speaking and was losing interest quickly. The fact that he used gestures and facial gestures to respond to my questions made me want to use my hands and body even more. It made me feel very agitated at one point. This experiment made me realize the extreme importance of using signs and symbolic gestures in order to communicate. Without them, our individual expressions would cease to exist. It makes things like panic, happiness, and anger seem much more emphasized, which can be needed in certain situations. It makes it easier to understand one another as well through clarity and human connection. There are definitely some people who have a hard time reading body language. These people can include the blind, young children, and even older adults who may have been out of touch with today’s body language movements. The adaptive benefit to body language is that it makes it easier for humans to pick up cues that make it easier to understand what they are trying to communicate. It also creates a bond between humans, especially long time friends and family. An environmental condition where it would not be beneficial to read body language would probably not exist. Even the most simple things I can think of like sitting and listening to a lecture, getting ready to sleep and talking to your partner would all have some sort of importance on body language to signal the other individual. 

PART 3

I think if I was able to use written language during part one of the experiment I would have had a much easier time. Spoken and written language, I believe, is much more powerful than symbolic language. Written language would convey the same type of importance and understanding as spoken language. The only problem I see would be if the person did not know how to read, or if the person reading would not get a sense of character through written words. There are so many important advantages to using written language in one’s culture. One advantage that written language can have on our culture is to document history. This allows us to record past events and gain knowledge about the past. Written language allows us to set rules and regulations, to remind us of the things we would have forgotten if our memory failed us. It is very important to use written language. Written language has allowed the flow of ideas and communication to be spread out throughout the world. Many ideas came from written books, mathematics, and religion that have all been written down and recorded. This is by far one of human civilizations greatest achievements. 

Zulu and Andean Environmental Comparison

Population A: Zulu

Environment

The people of Zulu reside in the northern and eastern regions of South Africa. KwaZulu-Natal, generally known as Zululand, produces a subtropical climate along the coast with some colder climates in the inner regions. Throughout summer, which is between the months of November and March, temperatures range from 86 degrees Fahrenheit to a cool 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It is usually sunny and hot. In the winter, temperatures can go from 70 degrees Fahrenheit to below freezing point in some winter evenings. There is much humidity throughout the year with some rainfall on the south coast of Durban. This can be hard for any human body to maintain homeostasis, which makes the people of Zululand so resistant to changes in the weather.  

Physical Adaptation

Due to the region being located in the Southern Hemisphere, there is lots and lots of sunlight that shines down. This caused the people of Zulu to obtain physical adaptations through the process of evolution. Throughout a long period of time, changes occurred in their skin in response to constant environmental stress. They produced more eumelanin, which blocks ultraviolet radiation more effectively and maintains homeostasis throughout their body. 

Cultural Adaptation

Because the people of Zulu are so bound by very hot and humid weather, they also learned to adapt by the way they dress themselves. It is especially important to dress with very minimal clothing to allow wind to pass through and to keep as cool as possible. This allows them to remain in normal body temperature; in a state of homeostasis. 

Race

The race that I believe would best describe the people of Zulu would be Black. I chose this race because it best correlates with their physical attributes and skin color. Many are very tall and dark colored to be protected from the sun. 

Population B: Andean Indians

Environment

The Andean Indians live in the Central America and the northern regional coast of South America. This area is very tropical where the changes in rainfall are more significant than the changes in temperature. Some areas have dense forests while other areas are very dry. The reason for the extreme changes is due to the elevation and altitude of the land itself. Some areas are very high in altitude and some are low. 

Physical Adaptation

Because the Andean Indians live in such a high elevated area where it is very difficult to breathe for most, their physical characteristics have changed throughout thousands of years to better suit the environment they live in. For example, some areas reach a staggering elevated level of about three miles. Therefore, they must have adapted a way in order to survive the very low oxygen levels. They produced hemoglobin in their blood so that they can increase lung expansion and help with everyday living. 

Cultural Adaptation

One cultural adaptation that the Andean Indians had to learn was how to inherit complex farming methods to adapt to their local conditions. Because of the high altitude and sloping valleys, many farmers learned how to farm through years of cultural and biological evolution. These methods have helped them manage very jarring environments without having to depend on modern agricultural technology. 

Race

The race that I believe would best describe the Andean Indians would be Asian. Many of the people there are very mixed due to intermarriage. The best attributes, however, are that they encompass a small stature and more oval eyes. 

Adaptation vs. Race

After comparing both populations with physical and cultural adaptions versus race, I would say that it is much more informative to describe populations based on physical and cultural adaptions. For one, it is very difficult to acquire information based on ones outward appearance.This method can leave someone open to many erroneous conclusions. It is very broad and general without giving any reason. Cultural and physical adaptations are much more specific, informative, precise, and delivers an explanation to a population’s outward appearance. This would be a much more scientific approach for anthropologists to use.  

Sources:

http://www.zulu.org.za/about/key-facts/natural-environment

http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/zulu

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Zulu.aspx

http://www.britannica.com/topic/Andean-peoples

http://anthro.palomar.edu/adapt/adapt_3.htm

http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/mountains-in-balance/indigenous-knowledge-re-valued-in-andean

Traditions of the Nacerima

     While reading through Horace Miner’s article, Body Ritual of the Nacerima, five descriptive words that came to mind had largely to do with tradition.

Ritualistic -

     Rituals seemed to be part of everyday life. It was what kept the Nacerima people strong in their pursuits to try and adjust their bodies which they considered ugly. No matter whether one was rich or poor, at least one shrine would be mounted in every person’s household. Their rituals would usually be done alone as opposed to an entire family as a unit. This word best suited their ideals and beliefs.

Masochistic -

     The one profound habit in the entire article was how the Nacerima people became prone to torture and discomfort. Many of the rituals included one way or form of masochism. For example, medicine men would jab an awl into exposed nerves. There was also daily rituals for men in which they would be scrapped and lacerated on the surface of their face with sharp tools. For women, they would bake their heads in small ovens for an hour or so four times a year during the lunar months. This is just a small portion of the tortures that were not only prone to happen but also accepted and celebrated. 

Ceremonial - 

     As opposed to rituals, ceremonies were held in special temples that were not so common to everyday life. The temple, known as latipso, was the place where the sick traveled to get cured. These ceremonies proved to be shocking even for the Nacerima people. For example, a man would normally never show his excretory act to anyone, especially his wife, but maidens of the temple would be present while he would have to excrete into a vessel. Women would be subjected to manipulation and scrutiny for their naked bodies. Every morning, a maiden vestal would awaken their clients to discomfort and torture, forcing them to eat substances and jabbing treated needles into their flesh. Although this would hardly cure the client, people still held a strong faith in these ceremonies. 

Oral - 

     The Nacerima people had a large fascination with the mouth. They believed that if rituals were not conducted for the mouth, their teeth would fall, their gums would bleed, and their jaws would shrink. There were holy-mouth-men that would perform mouth rites where they would insert small amount of hog hairs along with magical powders. These mouth men would also have tools that would seemingly torture the client. The purpose was to create holes in their teeth to put magical materials. There were also ritual ablution for children in order to improve moral fiber. The word best described the Nacerima people’s ideals and fascination with the mouth.  

Economic -

     I chose this word to describe how the Nacerima people actually had a very big understanding in commerce. There was a bunch of trading and exchange for goods and services. Guardians of the temples would expect gifts from clients before and after the ceremonies would take place. Medicine men required substantial gifts after they provided ingredients for their clients, which would then be taken to an herbalist who would also require a gift for their part in retrieving these ingredients. Women with large mammary developments would be able to make a lucrative living simply by traveling from city to city to exhibit their breasts. 

PART B

     As an American, the choice of words I used in Part A seemed rather violent and primal. I was completely unaware of the fact that Horace Miner was describing Americans. However, on second thought, I feel like any foreigner who comes into the American culture can have such a view that can seem quite violent to them. It is true that many of us have a standard to try and alter ourselves to seem beautiful to one another. It really opened up my eyes as to what one can view our culture as. 

      I can completely agree that my choice words exhibited some type of ethnocentrism. I completely judged the culture based on my culture and made it seem as if I were observing a primal tribe. Out of the words I chose, the ones I felt were unbiased were: economic, ritualistic, and ceremonial. I feel like those three words can describe almost any other culture around the world. I feel like rituals and ceremonies are a factor that humans seek, whether it is a daily routine or a sacrifice of an animal. Economy is also extremely universal and known throughout every part of the world. The words I believe were biased were: Oral and Masochistic. Those words definitely exude a sense of primal violence that others may not agree with. Since it was something I could not understand, I put a negative connotation to my description. 

     For the two words that I believe were biased, I simply could have said something more unbiased like, “body-conscious” and, “mouth-related” to try and steer away from any negative connotations. 

     After being completely surprised, I concluded that one must really be cautious of the words they use to describe other cultures. Our own views and standards can unconsciously seep into our minds when we think we are ready to be objective. I believe that it is possible to avoid personal cultural bias, but only if more than one person were reviewing and editing the observations.